الأرض كبيرة.

In Arabic, the verb to be is usually not stated in the present tense.

So:

الأرض كبيرة
literally: the earth big
naturally means: The earth is big.

This is a very normal Arabic sentence type, called a nominal sentence.

If you want was, will be, etc., Arabic does use a verb:

• كانت الأرض كبيرة = The earth was big
• ستكون الأرض كبيرة = The earth will be big

الـ is the Arabic definite article, equivalent to the in English.

So:

• أرض = earth / land / ground
• الأرض = the earth / the land / the ground

In this sentence, الأرض is the subject: the earth.

In Arabic, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

So:

• أرض كبيرة = a big land / a big earth
• بيت كبير = a big house

Also, in sentences like الأرض كبيرة, the pattern is:

• subject first
• description second

So Arabic says, in effect:

the earth — big

which English translates as The earth is big.

This is a very important question.

Arabic distinguishes these two ideas through definiteness:

1. الأرض كبيرة = The earth is big

   • الأرض is definite
   • كبيرة is indefinite
   • so this is a sentence

2. الأرض الكبيرة = the big earth / the big land

   • both words are definite
   • so this is a noun phrase

So the lack of الـ on كبيرة tells you it is the predicate: big, not an attributive adjective inside a noun phrase.

Because أرض is a feminine noun in Arabic.

Arabic adjectives must agree with the noun in gender. So:

• masculine: كبير
• feminine: كبيرة

Since الأرض is feminine, the adjective must also be feminine:

الأرض كبيرة

This is grammatical gender, so it is about the noun’s grammar, not biological sex.

The final ة is called tāʾ marbūṭa. It very often marks a word as feminine.

So:

• كبير = big (masculine)
• كبيرة = big (feminine)

In normal pause, كبيرة is pronounced roughly kabīra.

In very careful reading with full case endings, the hidden t can reappear, for example:

• كبيرةٌ = kabīratun

But in everyday pronunciation and in pauses, learners usually hear it as kabīra.

It is pronounced approximately al-ʾarḍ.

A few things to notice:

• الـ = al-
• the ء / أ sound is a glottal stop, like a small catch in the throat
• ض is an emphatic consonant, deeper and heavier than an ordinary English d

So a rough beginner-friendly pronunciation is:

al-ard

but with a dark/heavy d at the end.

Yes. In fully vocalized formal Arabic, this sentence would usually be written:

الأرضُ كبيرةٌ

Those endings show grammatical case:

• الأرضُ = subject, so it takes -u
• كبيرةٌ = indefinite predicate, so it takes -un

However, in most normal Arabic writing, these short vowel endings are not written, and in much real-life speech they are often not fully pronounced.

So learners commonly see:

الأرض كبيرة

without the final vowel marks.

Because here كبيرة is the predicate of the sentence, not part of a definite noun phrase.

Compare:

• الأرض كبيرة = The earth is big
• الأرض الكبيرة = the big earth / the big land

So in this sentence, كبيرة stays indefinite. That is one of the signals that you are looking at a full sentence, not just a noun plus adjective.

كبيرة comes from the root ك-ب-ر, which has the basic idea of being big, great, or large.

Related forms include:

• كبير = big (masculine)
• كبيرة = big (feminine)
• كِبَر = old age / greatness in some contexts
• أكبر = bigger / biggest

So this sentence uses the feminine form of the adjective from the root ك-ب-ر.

Yes. أرض can mean several related things depending on context, such as:

• earth
• land
• ground
• soil

So الأرض may mean the Earth in one context, but the land or the ground in another.

In this sentence, the exact English translation depends on the meaning already given to the learner, but grammatically the Arabic structure stays the same.